People often ask me if I grew up cooking in the kitchen. But I didn’t, and I don’t have some back story about generational recipes that were passed down.
In fact, being on Pitmasters on Food Network was a little challenging, because everyone else was sharing such meaningful dishes. When I was a kid, soul-warming dishes included Tuna Helper Tuna Tetrazzini, a salisbury steak TV dinner and the occasional homemade spaghetti.
So it’s only fitting that Sept. 10, National TV Dinner Day seems pretty cool to me.
My favorite TV dinners in the 80s
According to the Smithsonian, TV dinners originated in 1953 when Swanson’s launched turkey-surplus trays. They were packaged in aluminum compartments that you could put in the oven to reheat.
In the ’80s when we added a microwave to our kitchen, the TV dinner process became much faster. My favorite was the one with salisbury steak, mashed potatoes and a chocolate brownie. It came with veggies too, but as a kid, that’s not the part I loved.
I liked the turkey TV dinner for the turkey, stuffing and potatoes, but the peas were always mushy and the apple-cranberry compote was kind of gross.
Whichever one came with the cherry cobbler was also a winner, but just for the dessert. I don’t even remember what the other compartments had in them. I just dove straight in for the lava hot cherries.
The future of TV dinners hasn’t happened yet
TV dinners and microwave meals have definitely advanced over the years. One of the coolest changes has been the introduction of so many different cuisines. But the future isn’t what we were promised.
In 1989 when enjoyed our TV dinners while watching Back to the Future on a VHS tape we rented from Blockbuster, Marty’s mom popped a futuristic pizza into the “hydrator.” When she pulled it out, it looked like it came straight from Pizza Hut.
That was supposed to be 2015. We’re 11 years past that. My Ninja Air Fryer can do some pretty magical stuff, but we haven’t advanced to the hydrator level yet.
Could the future be Lego meals?
The TV dinner has always been about a dinner that was ready for you when you needed to zap a meal fast. Today, when we want to skip the grocery freezer section and do a little cooking for the future, we just call it meal planning.
That’s where you cook large batches of food, mostly proteins, and package it and freeze it in smaller portions, so you can reheat it in a jiffy.
Grilling and barbecuing are perfect for meal planning. Smoke a pork butt or a whole chicken and save it for future meals, even if they’re not quite the future meals the McFly’s promised.
But if you want full 2026-style TV dinners, you’re ready for Lego meals. This is where you cook all your proteins, starches and veg at once, and then you package them and freeze them in Souper cubes silicone freezer molds. Once you have all of your frozen portions, you mix and match and build your dinner like Lego blocks.
My friend over at Girl Carnivore has a whole freezer meal prep system and tons of recipes to mix and match so you don’t get bored.
Back in the ’50s when TV dinners first came out and in the ’80s when they landed on my table weekly, we only had a few options. Today, your TV dinner possibilities are endless.
